As a small business, every interaction you have with potential customers, current clients and partners is an opportunity to convey your company’s professionalism, credibility and value. For small businesses navigating this dynamic environment, having grammatically correct and error-free materials, including website copy, brochures, posters and social media posts is important.
Why? Because the quality of your written content shapes the perception of your brand, influences purchasing decisions and can ultimately impact your bottom line. YIKES!
Grammatical errors, typos and unclear language can detract from the effectiveness of your messaging, leading to consumer confusion, frustration and missed sales opportunities. As a business striving to make a memorable impression and stand out in the crowded marketplace, ensuring that your content is clear, concise and free of errors is not just a matter of professionalism—it's a necessity for success.
Before publishing any content, it's essential to ensure that it is correct. But, let’s be honest…how many of you were English majors? Do we hear crickets?
Don’t worry. This is exactly the reason why we have compiled a list of the top grammar and punctuation items to check before hitting print or publish. Check them out below.
Want an easier reference for you and your team? Download our complimentary Go-To Grammar Checklist now to guide your business in real-time.
Small Business Grammar Guide
Spelling and Typos
Use spell-check tools to catch any spelling mistakes or typos that your team may have overlooked. Pay attention to commonly misspelled words and ensure proper spelling throughout your content. It also helps to have someone else proofread what you personally write.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement refers to the correspondence between the subject of a sentence and the verb, ensuring that they match or agree in number (singular vs. plural). Singular subjects should be paired with singular verbs, plural with plural. For example, "The team is working" (singular subject) versus "The teams are working" (plural subject).
Punctuation
Punctuation refers to the marks used in writing to clarify meaning, indicate pauses and organize sentences. Check for correct punctuation usage, including commas, periods, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks and dashes. Don’t forget to pay special attention to punctuation within quotations and complex sentences.
Sentence Structure
Sentence structure refers to the way words are organized within a sentence to convey meaning. When you review your content, you can ensure clarity and coherence. Check for run-on sentences, sentence fragments and awkward phrasing that may confuse readers.
Verb Tense
Verb tense refers to the form of a verb that indicates the time of the action (past, present or future). When writing, you should maintain consistency in verb tenses throughout the content and avoid unnecessary shifts between them, unless intended for stylistic purposes.
Pronoun Usage
Pronouns (he, she, they, I) can function as substitutes for nouns in a sentence, helping to avoid repetition and make sentences more concise and fluent. Pronouns can refer to people, places, things, ideas or concepts mentioned earlier in the text or conversation. Ensure that pronouns agree in number and gender with their antecedents. Be sure to watch out for ambiguous pronoun references that could confuse the reader.
Parallelism
Imagine you're organizing your closet. You want all your clothes to be in neat stacks, right? Parallelism is like that for sentences, ensuring the elements within a sentence structure have a similar form or function (climbing, hiking and swimming vs. climbing, hiking and to swim). Check for parallel structure in lists, series and comparisons and make sure that items in a series or list follow the same grammatical pattern for clarity and coherence.
Modifiers
Modifiers are words or groups of words that make sentences more interesting and descriptive, basically “modifying” the nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs. They give us extra details about things or actions, descriptions or clarity to the sentence. Verify that your modifiers are placed correctly to enhance the intended word or verb you are trying to modify (e.g., a huge slice of cake). Misplaced modifiers can lead to ambiguity or completely alter the meaning of your sentence.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions…what is their function? Conjunctions are used to join elements of equal grammatical importance and indicate the relationship between them. Use them appropriately to connect clauses and phrases within sentences. The most common coordinating conjunctions are "and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "yet," and "so."
Prepositions
Prepositions are used to show location, direction, time, manner or other relationships and typically come before a noun or pronoun. Common prepositions include "in," "on," "at," "by," "with," "to," "from," "between," "during," "before," and "after," among others. Check the use of prepositions to ensure they are used correctly in relation to the words they modify.
Articles
Articles are essential in helping to determine whether the speaker is referring to something specific or something more general (e.g., the cat, a cat). Verify the use of articles to ensure they are used correctly before nouns. Determine whether a specific article (definite or indefinite) is needed based on the context of the sentence.
Consistent Style
Maintaining consistency in writing style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago style), including capitalization, abbreviations, acronyms and formatting will help your writing flow smoothly and make it easier for people to understand.
Small businesses that invest in high-quality content reap the benefits of improved communication, enhanced brand perception and a competitive advantage in the marketplace. By thoroughly reviewing these grammar items before publishing content, you can ensure clarity, accuracy and professionalism with your content, enhancing the overall quality of your communication.
Whether you're looking for original and authentic content or need editing for voice, grammar or spelling, our copywriters ensure your brand copy appeals to your readers. Contact us today for a free consultation.
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